Monday, August 29, 2011

"Charles II is running for his life-and into the arms of a woman who will risk all for king and country.
Jane Lane is of marrying age, but she longs for adventure. She has pushed every potential suitor away-even those who could provide everything for her. Then one day, adventure makes its way to her doorstep, and with it comes mortal danger...
Royalists fighting to restore the crown to King Charles II implore Jane to help. Jane must transport him to safety, disguised as a manservant. As she places herself in harm's way, she finds herself falling in love with the gallant young Charles. And despite his reputation as a breaker of hearts, Jane finds herself surrendering to a passion that will change her life forever".

"Elliott reimagines the story of Adam and Eve in a debut novel that richly evokes earliest biblical times. The story is told from the points of view of Eve and her daughters: Naava, the beautiful weaver; Aya, the quick-witted, club-footed cook; and Dara, the compassionate observant twin. Eve recounts the fall and how she and Adam wander until settling down to grow crops, raise livestock and start a garden of their own. Elliott offers readers vivid details about the first childbirth, the first intercourse, the first recriminations, the first environmental calamity and the first hunt, but the novel really comes alive when it departs from lushly imagined retelling and thrusts the family into unfamiliar territory when the brood encounters a city and city people. Elliott is at her imaginative and linguistic best describing city life, customs and architecture, building tension as Naava falls for a prince, fueling Cain's wrath. Elliott makes biblical fiction her own with a female perspective that emphasizes emotional turmoil, sensual experience and an impressive range of imagery that brings to life daily life in the beginning".

"Charming reproduction of rare volume by famed 19th-century illustrator includes abundantly illustrated list of over 200 plants and their figurative equivalents: tulip = fame, blue violet = faithfulness, etc. Selection of flower-related verses, including "To a Mountain Daisy" by Robert Burns, appears at back of book. 85 full-color illustrations. Contains alphabetical lists of flowers and the meanings associated with them. A very nice reprint copy of the 1884 edition".

"Strong-willed Annabelle Stirling is more than capable of running the family draper shop after the untimely death of her parents. Under her father's tutelage, she became a talented cloth merchant, while her brother Wesley, the true heir, was busy philandering about Yorkshire. Knowing she must change with the times to survive, Belle installs new machinery that finishes twice the fabric in half the time it takes by hand. But not everyone is so enthusiastic.

Soon, riled up by Belle's competitors, the outmoded workers seek violent revenge. Her shop destroyed, Belle travels to London to seek redress from Parliament. While there, the Prince Regent, future King George IV, commissions her to provide fabrics for his Royal Pavilion. As Belle's renown spreads, she meets handsome cabinetmaker Putnam Boyce, but worries that marriage will mean sacrificing her now flourishing shop. And after Wesley plots to kidnap the newly-crowned King-whose indiscretions are surfacing-she finds herself entangled in a duplicitous world of shifting allegiances.

Painting a vivid portrait of life in the British Regency, Christine Trent spins a harrowing tale of ambition, vengeance, love, and complex loyalties against the dynamic backdrop of the early Industrial Revolution".

Monday, August 22, 2011

To Die for by Sandra Byrd
"What would you sacrifice for your best friend? Would you die for her?

Meg Wyatt has been Anne Boleyn's closest friend ever since they grew up together on neighboring manors in Kent. So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.

Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling...at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.

But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bona fide gold of those are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.

A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live on in our hearts forever"

Thursday, August 18, 2011

"In the second novel from Ella March Chase, we meet sixteen-year-old Jane Grey, a quiet and obedient young lady destined to become the shortest reigning English monarch. Her beautiful middle sister Katherine Grey charms all the right people—until loyalties shift. And finally Lady Mary Grey, a dwarf with a twisted spine whose goal is simply to protect people she loves—but at a terrible cost.

In an age in which begetting sons was all that mattered and queens rose and fell on the sex of their child, these three girls with royal Tudor blood lived under the dangerous whims of parents with a passion for gambling. The stakes they would wager: their daughters' lives against rampant ambition".

Monday, August 15, 2011

Happy birthday Napoleon Bonaparte! Today is a special day for me too. It is my 30th birthday. I know young but not young. Life this year has had so many changes for me I am not sure how I really feel about it. Number one I accomplished and have stuck with my goal of living smoke free. I officially became unemployed at the beginning of the year. One of my biggest hardships this year was losing my 15 year old dog this year. It still brings me to tears. I can honestly say I will be glad when this year is completely gone because even through it had its good moments it also has had its very bad moments. My ray of sunshine has been my blog and I am so thankful to have this wonderful circle of friends here that really have been there for me in some hard times. Thank you for everything you mean the world to me!!!!!

As a real thank you to all of you I made these adorable graphics that are FREE to use for anything!!!! Anyone can have it, post it on your site, post it on facebook, share it on Twitter do whatever pleases you and once again THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU! Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for some more on Napoleon Bonaparte. Please keep in mind that the Napoleon Quote card graphic below is exclusive to historically obsessed.

FREE for Everyone!

FREE for Everyone!

"Name at birth: Napoleon Buonaparte Born august 15th 1769

Not for use, exclusive to Historically Obsessed

Napoleon is the most charismatic general in French history, famed for his military successes and (at the same time) for not quite conquering Europe. Starting as a second lieutenant in the French artillery, he rose quickly through the ranks until he staged a 1799 coup that made him First Consul of France. (In 1804 he went further, proclaiming himself emperor.) He led his armies to victory after victory, and by 1807 France ruled territory that stretched from Portugal to Italy and north to the river Elbe. But Napoleon's attempts to conquer the rest of Europe failed; a defeat in Moscow in 1812 nearly destroyed his empire, and in 1814 he was deposed and exiled to the island of Elba. The next year he returned to Paris and again seized power, but this success was short-lived: the French army's 1815 loss to the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo finished Napoleon for good. He was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena, where he died in 1821. His body was returned to Paris in 1840, and his tomb there remains a popular attraction.

Extra credit: Napoleon was short enough that early in his military career he was nicknamed "The Little Corporal." According to Napoleon.org, at his death he was 1.68 meters tall, or about 5'6"... Napoleon died of an unidentified ailment, possibly stomach cancer; because traces of arsenic were later found in his remains, some have suggested he may have been fatally poisoned.." ~Lizzy~

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

"Eileen Clymer Schwab’s captivating novel of pre-Civil War southern plantation life, Shadow of a Quarter Moon (NAL Trade Paperback Original; July 2011; 978-0451233288; $15.00), is highly researched and captures a turbulent time in the South with pitch-perfect accuracy.

In1839 North Carolina, Jacy has been raised in privilege as the daughter of a plantation owner. But when her father suddenly dies, her cold, unfeeling mother, Claudia, schemes to marry Jacy off to a well-positioned but lecherous suitor. In a fit of fury over Jacy’s protests, Claudia calls her a “foolish, infernal quadroon”—and reveals that Jacy is the offspring of a dalliance between her father and a slave. Furthermore, her biological mother and brother are still slaves on the plantation. After these revelations, Jacy’s sense of who she is and where she belongs in the world is destroyed and, starts to see herself and the South with fresh eyes.

Inspired by the countless stories of courageous people who risked their lives to find freedom on the Underground Railroad, Eileen Clymer Schwab’s Shadow of a Quarter Moon brings to life their harrowing journey and tales of heroism. Please let me know if you’d like a review copy of the book or to schedule a guest post or Q&A with Eileen Clymer Schwab".

Please welcome author Eileen Clymer Schwab to Historically Obsessed with a guest post today on her latest release Shadow of a Quarter Moon which hit bookstores everywhere July 5, 2011. Eileen has also graciously offered up an exciting giveaway of an autographed copy of Shadow of a Quarter Moon. With out further delay please take it away Eileen.

"Imagine fleeing the only home you know, alone, with nothing but the clothes on your back. Without shoes or a map, you tread through murky nights along landscape you have never seen. You have no idea where you are going or where you will end up, yet what you are escaping makes the treacherous journey the lesser hell. In the 1800’s the secret network of escape known as the Underground Railroad was the perfect example of the best of America in the worst of America, and it serves as a vehicle of transformation for the main character in my novel, Shadow of a Quarter Moon.

Early in the book, an unimaginable secret changes the course of Jacy Lane’s life; not once, but twice. First, when it is hidden from her, and then when it is revealed. As the daughter of a plantation owner, Jacy has been raised in privilege until she discovers that she is the offspring of a dalliance between her father and a slave. Amid the shock and complexities of her mixed heritage, Jacy is simply a woman longing for love, happiness, and a sense of wholeness; however the 1800s are not a simple time and Jacy begins a treacherous journey of denial and self-discovery that is fraught with danger and life-altering choices. She soon discovers that what she chases is as elusive as the secret network she hopes can save them.

Writing a novel against an historic backdrop requires a great deal of research. For me, research is a process of discovery – not just of historical facts, but of tendencies, beliefs, undertones, and nuances of the time. Through this process I become better acquainted with my characters and the world around them. I wanted to touch and see as much as I could, beginning at the library, as well as visiting places like the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and other historic sites found within our National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. So often the surprises discovered in research shift plotlines or shape characters in unexpected ways. For example, while doing some research in North Carolina, I came across Dismal Swamp. As a writer, I could not overlook a name so vivid and descriptive, and I knew it would be mentioned in my story. At the time, I had no idea that the bleak sounding region was so rich and storied in Underground Railroad history, or that it would play such a significant role in my novel.

My ability to breathe life into the characters of SHADOW OF A QUARTER MOON and my previous novel, PROMISE BRIDGE was aided by the voices I “heard” while reading the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project of 1936-38. During FDR’s New Deal, the Works Progress Administration sent writers out to find and chronicle the thoughts and memories of former slaves, many of whom were well into their eighties and nineties. The narratives are an important piece of history that can never fade away with the passing of time. Some of the dialect and phrasing found in the narratives gives credible voice to my characters. The research phase was lengthy and often appalling. Yet, at other times, it was awe-inspiring.

As an author, I am inspired by the strength and courage of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. It was an honor to look back and give voice to a generation deserving of acknowledgment, tribute, and literary life. Remembering and discussing their trials and triumphs can be one way of paying respect for their role in our social evolution. My hope is that the spirit of the Underground Railroad will never be forgotten.